CINCINNATI — Two nonprofits are working together with the goal of breaking down barriers for people with disabilities.

DeAnthony Thomas, Easterseals Redwood program participant, loves to share facts about himself.

“My name is DeAnthony Thomas," he said as he read his worksheet answers aloud to his peers. "My favorite movie is 'Menace to Society.'"

Like many students enrolled in program, Thomas gets to connect with others, receives educational and therapeutic services and access to employment. He said when he got his job as a janitor, it was the best day.

"I felt good," he said. 

While the program was previously successful, Easterseals Redwood said it needed a place to teach and connect with more families and communities. Clovernook also spent months looking for a venue to lease to host one of its Youth Adaptive Sports and Leisure activities for the visually impaired. 

It was through this mutual need the partnership between the two organizations was born.

"Clovernook is trying to help families in Kentucky who are blind, who have visual impairments," said Pam Green, president and CEO of Easterseals Redwood. "They didn't have a site."

Clovernook will now allow Easterseals Redwood students to attend classes in its empty spaces, and Easterseals will grant access to Clovernook to use its gym facilities and host its sports camps.

"Our families already face so many different barriers to every aspect of life," said Kelly Lusk, Clovernook director of program services. "Any time we can say, 'Hey, we're going to make this a little bit easier for you to access resources and make connections and just be more successful and more independent,' that's what we're going to do." 

More information about the programs can be found on the Easterseals Redwood and Clovernook Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired websites.